A New Fear
by Zarakh
Summary: this story is about a boy who longs to find his true purpose in life and to discover his true potential


_**Chapter 1, A New Fear**_

It's the year is 2996; the world is plagued by war; a young boy sits and waits for his father to return on his leave. "What is this?" the boy asks himself, "This feeling, as if something else is inside of me. Like a second entity surrounded by the shell of me, another soul within mine. What is this feeling?"

He hears bombs rain down more than ten miles away; a stray bullet kills one of his mother's animals. He sits and waits for hours before his mother comes in with tears flowing from her eyes. The boy looks at his mother calmly and asks "What's wrong, mom?"

His mother slowly chokes out that his father was killed by a MDNV while it was detonating mines. The boy once again calmly asks "Why was the vehicle so close to a mine field?"

His mother looks at him and says "The MDNV had preset a small explosive to detonate a mine, unfortunately when they turned away from the blast to detonate it his SRV rolled over the mine as it was about to go off no one noticed until it was too late."

Just then they hear pounding at the door. The mother nervously goes to see who it is, just as she reaches for the metal door knob the wooden door explodes, sending her mangled body through the kitchen door landing by the stove. The boy frantically looks at his mother in horror. As he turns toward the door he hears someone yell "Move in, move in search the premises and kill anyone who stands in your way."

The boy walks into the hall way and stands directly in front of the kitchen door facing the men, angrily staring at them and hold back the tears. One of the Daltra look at the boy through his gun scope and states while snickering "Well, well and I thought that nobody was home."

The boy continues staring at him, his anger growing after every breath. All of a sudden behind him he hears his mother yell "NO! Please no."

One of the General's looks at her and tells her to shut-up and fires five rounds into her using a Pis-que. He looks at the four holding the guns at the boy and tells them to open fire. As they open fire on the boy, the General notices that not one of the bullets have even touched him. It's only when they stop firing that they notice that the boy is still alive. They look at him and then around him at the enormous amount of bullet holes scattered around the buildings walls, floors and ceiling and then back at him. The gunmen run outside closing the door. The General looks at the boy, and then fires an entire clip at him. As the bullets ricochet off of the boy one of them strikes the General in the leg. As he falls to his knees in pain he looks up at the boy and yells in fear "What are you?"

The sheer terror in his face grew as he notices the power that the boy is emitting is beginning to collapse the already weakened walls. As the boy steps forward, the ground under his feet sinks in, he looks at the General angrily and in a deep demonic voice says "You have disappointed me, I expected a fight out of you."

While yelling in fear the General makes an attempt to crawl to the door. As the boy yells the seemingly invisible field around him becomes a ball of light that quickly engulfs the entire area within a fifty-foot radius. The building and the soldiers are completely incinerated; their bodies lay scattered throughout the area, though the General's body seems to have disappeared. The boy is left passed out in the middle of the circular incineration after the smoke clears away. After a few seconds a man in an SRV appears at the sight where he saw the explosion. He refers to the boy and says "My god what happened here?"

One of the foot soldiers in the SRV yells, "Sir, look over there" as he points to the body of the child.

"He has a set of tags," says the man "they read Wilbur."

Then one of the soldiers looks at the bodies and gags "Hey Remesiez, come look at this."

He walks over to the bodies' looks at them, to the boy and back at them. He lets out a short, heh, as he looks back at the boy. He looks upon the boys features: short with brown hair and blue eyes, no taller than his sister; and wearing a black short-sleeve shirt and long blue jean pants with white and blue tennis shoes. One of the soldiers looks at him and asks "What do you think happened."

Remesiez continues looking at the boy as he states, snidely, "Why don't you ask the boy?"

He then walks over, picks the boy up, sets him into the SRV and tells the driver to head to the nearest hospital A.S.A.P. During the trip to through ER he becomes slightly conscience staring up at the moving florescent lights from a Gurnee being pushed by five people, two of which are holding an IV drip and a chart. He looks toward his feet at Remesiez just before he looses consciousness.

A few days later the boy wakes up in a hospital bed, he sits up quickly surprised and looks around the room. To his left he notices the same IV but now it's filled with a strange blue liquid, in front of him he notices the door towards the exit, his bed being located in the center of the room at the back wall. To his right he sees a person sitting in a chair, Remesiez sits reading a book which cover reads Island Paradise, in Japanese. He looks up at the boy and asks him "Can you remember anything that happened on the day of your mother's death?"

The boy explains that he was waiting for his father; his mother came in and told him that he was dead, then some strange people came into his house and after seeing his mother injured he doesn't remember anything. The boy looks at Remesiez and asks him "Is there anyway that I could learn to fight, so I can kill those bastards?"

He looks at the boy and tells him to train his best until he is fifteen and then give him a call, while saying so he hands the boy a slip of paper with his number on it. He then tells the boy to contact any family members that could take him in. The boy looks at him confused and says "What family," as if he hadn't heard of any other.

He looks at the boy and asks him if he has any other relatives, the boy shakes his head, no. Remesiez's headset goes off as he asked the boy about any friends. He answers the radio... on the other line he hears that one of his operatives has found a box made of Dian and Tetram steel. He lets out a short hmm, as if suspicious of something. He then asks the operative to look at any writing on the box the man states that all it says is that it is addressed to Wilbur. He tells him to bring the box to the hospital immediately.

A few minutes pass before Agent Scott comes through the door saying "Hey Rem," holding the box and an angle grinder.

He asks Scott if that would be enough to open the box, he explains that the grinder wheel is carbon steel with diamond chips melted into the metal. He asks Rem to have the boy step back as he turns on the grinder and begins attempting to cut at the box. Immediately as Scott applies pressure to the grinder and the sparks fly, Rem notices that the grinding wheel is beginning to looks smaller. Scott stops grinding when he notices that the wheel is half its size. Rem looks at Scott, and tells him to give him the box; he looks back at Wilbur and tells him "Watch this."

He holds the box between his hands and begins squeezing his fingers into the front and back walls of the box. They slowly pierce the walls and he begins pulling his hands apart slowly applying pressure to the box. After a few seconds he tears the box completely in half, the boy notices a slip of paper fall from the box. Scott picks up the slip of paper and looks at it, then to Rem, as he asks, "What the hell does it say," while handing it to Rem.

He looks at it and states that he doesn't know, then he looks at Wilbur suspiciously and hands him the note while saying "But I bet he does."

Wilbur looks at the paper and begins slowly deciphering the message. Though just before he starts, they hear a beeping sound. Rem looks in the half of the box that he's still holding and sees a small electronic devise with a beeping red light. As Wilbur moves to the front of him, Rem lets out a short board sounding "Oh."

The small devise explodes destroying the wall behind Rem and slightly singing the clothes from his neck up toward his head… the boy then begins to read.

Dear Remesiez,

That's a bomb. Furthermore, I want you to take my son to a dear friend of mine's home. His name is Zarakh, you know him, but address him as General.

Sincerely,

Lt. Thaxton

The boy lowers the paper and looks at Rem who is still brushing the chard powder from his clothes and hair and asks him "Who's Zarakh?"

Rem looks at him and says "Your trainer."

Wilbur looks back at Rem and just smiles.

As they board the SRV Rem asks how Wilbur was able to read such gibberish written on the paper. He replied "Well, one day, while I was playing on the playground with a girl that I liked two years ago, a bigger kid by the name of Trevor Shaw was picking on me to where I couldn't stand it anymore. Before I knew it my body was glowing with these strange letters just like the ones on the note, they lit up on my arms, legs, face and torso. Trevor was too scared to run away and as I looked at my arms I heard a voice in my head begin to translate and read the words on my body to me, I don't know what made me, but just then I began to re-speak the spell on my right arm aloud. Then it all went blank, but when I woke up there was no one around and I saw that the playground was gone, as well as the Trevor and," a tear rolls down his face as he strives to continue, "and…the girl that I…" Rem looks at the boy surprisingly and then tells everyone to step back. Just then the boy screams "NOOOOOO!" as a beam of light fires straight upward from him.

Rem looks at the boy as his shirt and pant dissipate into nothing and records the writing on the boys' body with a small camera he removed from his coat. After a minute or so the boy calms down and passes out again.

He wakes up a few hours later in some strange office. He stands up and looks around seeing three bookcases full of books and one wall covered in ancient Japanese weaponry. Wilbur walks over and chooses a weapon that he likes. He reaches up and grabs a set of twin long swords with the greatest of care. The sheaths and hilts of both swords look old and worn from constant use. He unsheathes one of the swords to discover that the blade looks brand new as if it had never been used. Wilbur then hears a voice behind him, "So" begins the man "You choose the two katanas do you?"

Wilbur looks behind him at Zarakh and asks "What?" as he replaces the swords.

"For the next year" continues Zarakh "I shall teach you in the art and mastery of Jiujutsu."

He tells the boy to follow him outside to the training grounds. Zarakh explains that he's not used these grounds in some time because nobody has wanted to learn Jiujutsu for a while now, but now the one boy that he thought that he would never see again, since his birth is the one to choose Jiujutsu over all others. "For three-hundred years now" he continues, "I have never seen a more open and worthy soul than your's for such a task. Are you sure that you are up to it?"

Wilbur agrees that he is but asks, "How hard will this be?"

Zarakh walks over to him removes one hand from his robe and uses a palm heal strike to Wilbur's solar plexus, throwing back into the door behind him. As Wilbur stands up staggering, the General gets a small grin on his face. After Wilbur regains his balance he yells at the General "What was that for?!?"

He looks into the boy's eyes and says, "I gave you a demonstration at how hard this is going to be."

"Oh yeah," States Wilbur, "well take this."

He then attempts the same move on Zarakh, but when he makes contact he notices that the General doesn't move, nor does his clothes. Wilbur looks up at Zarakh confused and Zarakh looks down at Wilbur while slightly laughing under his leathery face. He Grabs his hand does a turning motion toward the back of him and puts his arm behind him in a tight hold. He leans his head beside Wilbur's while still holding him and states "If you can not defeat me within the next year's time, then you must stay and train from the beginning for another year."

He then releases the boy and tells him to get some rest. The next day Wil is woken up by the sound of Zarakh yelling at him," Wake up! I have been up for three hours already!"

Wil looks at him angrily, and then to the clock exclaiming, "It's four in the morning!"

Zarakh takes his fist, slams it on the table, smashing the clock, and yells, "Four hours!"

He tells Wil to get up and come to the balcony outside of his bedroom. Wil walks outside and looks around. The sun has yet to rise, dew has formed on the grass and there is a small metal object off in the distance. Zarakh looks at him and says, "Look over there, do you see metal cylinder?"

Wil takes a closer look and asks, "Is that a keg?"

Zarakh smacks him in the back of the head embarrassedly saying, "No."

He then tells Wil to go down the ladder in front if him, get the metal object, and return back the easiest and smartest way he can. Zarakh looks at him and says, "You will be allowed just forty seconds starting… NOW!"

Just as he stops talking Wil heads back into the building and down a flight of stairs. He descends a second flight into an underground distillery, grabs one of the pre-fermented kegs and brings it back upstairs. Zarakh stops the timer at five seconds as Wil sets the keg at his feet. He looks at Zarakh and says, "I'm twelve, not stupid. While you were busy doing something in your study, I decided to take a look around. And guess what I found first."

As he says this he spins a tap on his forefinger and slams it into the keg. Zarakh smiles saying, "Very good, look out there."

Wil looks at the metal object that he is referring to for a few seconds before it explodes creating a gaping hole in the ground. Wil looks at Zarakh in surprise and exclaims, "What the hell!"

He looks up at the old man who is now snickering to himself. Zarakh looks down at him and says, "You are a very smart boy, anticipating the enemy that you know very little about. Very clever indeed, now for your next task."

For the next three years Zarakh trains Wil in jiujutsu, self-control and physical understanding, the training is grueling, mind numbing and repetitive, just like daytime television. "Very good," says Zarakh, "you have come so far, but now you must fight me to truly see if you are a true warrior. You will meet me tomorrow on that hill," he points to a hill to the south, "at five p.m., there we shall see if you are truly ready."

"Wait," asks Wil, "why five?"

"I have party to go to at eleven."

The next day, Zarakh returns from his party to find Wil upon the hill meditating. "So," begins the apparently drunken old man, "you are ready for your final test?"

Wil exhales saying, "I am."

"Good," he continues, "You must fight me to pass."

Without hesitation, Wil busts out laughing at the sight of his drunken master trying to commandeer a challenge and at the same time retain his balance. "What is so funny?" yells Zarakh angrily.

"You-you actually think that in your condishehehehen" Wil gasps for air, "that you can fight mehehehe."

Wil gradually stops laughing as he sees his master getting more and more pissed off at his laughing. "Alright" says Wil calmly, "How 'bout this: you sober up, then I'll fight you."

"Can do, woo"

After the four hours pass, Zarakh returns, holding a cup of coffee, to see Wil still meditating. Wil continues sitting, saying smugly, "Are you ready now?"

"Yes," says the general soberly, "thank you."

"No prob. Besides, you looked pathetic."

"SHUT UP" yells Zarakh, "It is none of your business."

"What ever." Wil stands up and gets into his fighting stance. "Can we fight now?"

Zarakh looks at the boy pleasingly and getting into his stance he says, "One-"

"Two-" continues Wil.

Then they both simultaneously, "THREE"

Wil lunges forward toward Zarakh who jumps up off of the ground and fires a wind attack toward Wil, slamming him into the ground. Wil gets up and uses the wind to make him disappear. Zarakh smiles as he feels Wil come up beside him, but when he punches he feels a strong force to his spine that forces him to the ground. Zarakh looks forward, where he feels Wil's presence, and says, "You, you forced the strength of my own attack on me."

Zarakh hears a voice behind him say, "Damn right."

He turns and punches toward the voice, but is again greeted by a strong forced punch, this time to his chest. As the old man stands up he hears laughing all around him, "You can't hit me." continues Wil, "I am every where and nowhere."

Zarakh smiles as he places his hands together, he rubs his hand as he chants: "laever eht neddih yob."

As Zarakh pulls his hand apart, Wil feels himself torn from the air that surrounded him. He falls to the ground gasping, "Good, I was getting bored."

Zarakh lunges forward at Wil and painfully makes contact with his face; he is thrown into the air about ten yards before slamming into the ground. Wil stands up and looks at Zarakh angrily, who is now smiling. He jumps forward and attempts to punch Zarakh; but as Zarakh prepares to block the punch, the person that he is blocking moves through him. He turns around as he sees the fake Wil fade off into nothing. He looks up in time to see the real Wil coming down toward him with a fist tightly secured against his side. In an instant Zarakh jumps out of the way as Wil punches, almost hitting him and creating a massive crater in the ground. Zarakh then feels a poking on his shoulder; he looks back to see Wil smiling and waving. Then he punches Zarakh strongly in his spine, hearing bones crack, and sending Zarakh back to the ground. Just as he is about to hit the ground, however, Wil appears in front of him and forces his knee square into Zarakh's gut, stopping him just before he makes contact with the ground. Wil then takes his elbow and slams his opponent to the ground behind him. Zarakh stands up staggeringly behind Wil as he strives to retain his balance. Wil turns around, arms crossed, saying, "Have you had enough?"

"N-not," starts Zarakh painfully, "at all. I see your moves and they are flawless; however, as you know, I know much more than just jiujutsu."

Just as soon as Wil prepares himself for an attack, he feels a sharp pain in the back of his head. _What the hell_, Wil thinks to himself, _I-I can't move_.

"Hm hm hm," laughs Zarakh, "This is a paralysis move used mainly in Akio."

He now steps into a normal stance and pulls his free hand to his side. He then begins turning his right hand from a vertical to a horizontal position on Wil's neck, causing his entire body to stand upright as if he were waiting for orders from a higher command. "Now," states Zarakh as Wil strives to look behind him, he leans his head right beside Wil's whispering, "Upon the movement of my hand, your entire spinal column will be rendered useless and all functions relating to movement will be lost; for a short while only, of course, but plenty of time to finish what I came here for."

A shroud of both surprise and fear engulfs Wil tightly. _Oh shit, this SOB wants to kill me_. These words roar in his head as he struggles to escape Zarakh's grasp. The old man smiles as he cocks his hand to the side and prepares it for a strong blow. Zarakh yells as he lunges his fist forward. As Zarakh makes contact, however, he notices that his hand is somehow being forced back by some invisible, unknown force. Wil grunts and yells in pain as he feels some force overpowering him. The old man growls as he applies more and more pressure into Wil's somehow undamaged spinal column. Wil yells in pain as his consciousness begins to weaken. _Shit, _he curses to himself weakly, _n-not again._

A bright black light erupts from the perimeter of Wil's body, absorbing attention from any other surroundings. Zarakh ceases applying pressure as he sees that out of the black light something begins to grasp at his hands. He attempts to pull away, but as he does so the entire entity of light turns and fires itself onto him. Wil falls limply to the ground and begins to groan as his conscience returns. Zarakh falls to the ground flailing as the strange black entity begins to enter his body via his throat and any other open area upon his face. Wil turns around just in time to see the rest of the entity enter into Zarakh's body. He stands up just as Zarakh stops flailing and walks toward him. He looks down upon the now silent Zarakh with both pity and awe in his eyes. Just then the formerly silent alien leaps up from the ground screaming, roaring and growling all at once. Wil leaps back as the overpowered Zarakh falls to his knees yelling in great pain. _Jesus Christ, _Wil curses in his head, _what the hell is going on?_

All of a sudden, the light that had once before surrounded Wil now engulfs Zarakh in its heavenly grip. He looks into the light and feels a small sense of relief, as if the second entity inside of him so striving to escape has finally done so. But that relief passed quickly as he realizes that whatever that second entity was, it was responsible for all of the deaths that he thought were his fault: the general, the soldiers, Trevor. He gasps at the thought of the girl; the one that he had killed, the one that he had loved so very much. A once subdued memory forces itself back into his mind and plays in his eyes like and old home movie. He looks upon the memory in awe as he notices how clear and vivid the scene in front of his eyes has now become. He sees in a distance a young girl, no older than ten, smiling upon him. He looks closely as he strives to make out her childlike features: long, sea blue hair with a dark blue streak on the left half of her bangs; a soft pale face with rosy cheeks; baby-blue eyes; short, subtle arms and legs to accompany her miniature features; a long blue dress and shoes. He hears the girl yell innocently, "Wilbur come on, we are almost there."

She laughs happily as she looks back to see a young boy running after her. A tear appears in his eye as he looks upon the boy. "That's," Wil starts sobbingly, "me and-," Wil sighs "Eria."

He smiles as he sees the couple stop at the top of a tall plateau and look down upon the land. In his mind he walks up beside the children and marvels at the wonderful view of what he, at any other time, would have considered a barren wasteland. "Tag, you're it!" Eria squeals as she runs down a pre-made rout to the bottom of the plateau. Wilbur and Eria laugh as they run together through out the landscape leaving Wil to stand atop the plateau alone, once more. He turns, smiling, to walk away; but just as he does the happy memory is wiped out of his mind by the sight of a large brown and green creature charging right at him with a cocked arm. He jumps just in time to miss the rampaging creature as it swings its left arm at him. "What the hell is that thing?" Wil yells aloud.

He looks upon the creature in awe; it was easily eight feet tall with brown and green skin, large brown horns and teeth, and a pair of large demonic wings sprouting from its massive spine. It had a leopard skin loincloth, and a large kanabō resting in a leather holster on its back. Then, after hearing this, the creature turns and once again charges at Wil. He turns again to dodge the beast, but to no avail; it painfully makes direct contact with Wil's now limped body. The monster sends Wil a full twenty yards before he comes to a rest next to Zarakh's body. He looks upon the alien in horror, as he sees that his chest cavity is completely split open and damaged. He looks at Zarakh's chest, then curiously at his heart, as it seems to be still pumping blood. Then his distraction toward his heart is quickly demolished as he hears a voice evolve from the cold silence in front of him; the old alien grunts saying, "I… I did it." then referring to Wil he says, "It is up to you now, destroy the demon that has so long been inside of you. He is the reason for her death, all of the deaths; he is the second body that was within you. Now you must be the one to defeat him or the entire world is doomed."

Wil looks astonished as Zarakh's body glows a bright white light and begins to dissipate. He continues to look at the now smiling face of his old master hard and long until just the head is left saying, "Good luck, my young apprentice."

Then, it too disappears into nothing. The boy stands with anger consuming his once frightened soul as he hears laughing erupt from behind him; he turns and stares at the beast that is now consumed with laughter. He blindly charges at the beast with a mighty yell, and both fists cocked to his sides. Then, as the beast becomes shrouded in shadow, its entire outer structure begins to change. After a minute, the shadow subsides showing the human-like figure that was now standing in front of Wil. He was no more than six-feet tall, wearing a long black suit with a red tie, black polished shoes, and nothing less than a smirk across his near-white face. Wil continues charging at the man with the smirk, and as he nears him he sees the true power in his glair. Wil yells as he forces his right fist forward toward the man; but as his fist seams almost sure of contact, it is forced from its original position, to one which is far from the man's face. Wil stands surprisingly eying his arm that is now held a grasp in the man's left hand. The man snickers as he easily lifts Wil up by his arm and throws him more than forty yards into an area of forestry. Trees fall in Wil's path as he is forced through them like a rock through a paper towel. As his velocity decreases, until he stops at a pine tree, he hears a voice yell out, "Give up now boy, you can not defeat me. Soon I shall consume your flesh, and that of all others."

_A Jikininki, _Wilstates in his head, _and that last demon was an Oni. _

He stands up hurriedly and takes his ground. And with a large voice says, "By what name are you known demon?"

"I see that you are an inquireative of sorts, so by my manners I shall appease your desire of knowledge. I am known only as Zaebos, the rakshasa. For many-a-year I have been trapped in that hell house you call a body due to the actions of Khutaal. That damned demon sorcerer, he betrayed us all and sent us into the youngest born of the family that we had tormented; all seven of us." fear streaks across the boys face upon hearing this, "I lament my curse of the consumption of flesh but it seams, as you must have realized by now, that it is my time again and I fear that my appetite has only become greater over time."

A quick growling sound emerges from the forestry as Wil is tackled to the ground by the rakshasa. He looks up at the demon, its skin and muscle now decayed and some showing the bone, as it sits upon him breathing heavily. "As you see," the demon continues, now in a very raspy voice "my real form is a bit less than appeasing; however, as a gentleman, I shall offer a covenant: if I am defeated, my brethren shall rise from their tombs and wreak havoc over these lands; although" Zaebos smiles, "if you cannot defeat me, I will be free to walk this earth, and free my brethren myself, unattended for two years. It is much less painless when they do it, by the way. Then," the demon licks his lips at the thought, "I shall return for _your_ flesh."

Wil's eyes widen, he leaps up from the demon's grasp, knocking him off, and jumps to his feet. Anger further consumes his face as he stares into Zaebos' now empty eye sockets. Zaebos remains crouched as he too looks into Wil's eyes in both enjoyment and snide. He smiles as he stands, though not all the way up, and begins chuckling. He begins looking over Wil's facial features as he utters, "Do we have a deal?"

He then places out his hand toward Wil as his body recomposes into his original and statuesque features. Wil looks upon his hand with both surprise and confusion but keeps his guard up. Zaebos continues standing in perfect form, hand held at stomach height toward Wil who has yet to disdain his defense. "What is this?" Wil asks threateningly.

"Tis but a gesture of agreement between two people who-"

"Shut up, I know what a hand shake is. But you who are my foe, and who has solely based his entire existence on devouring the flesh of my relatives and I, are offering a "pact" between us. You must be joking." Wil interrupts confusedly.

"I'm afraid not my dear boy;" he begins while bringing his hand to his side "you see, before I was killed over two hundred years ago I was a wealthy aristocratic land owner. I had summer homes on Aurora and Cyrene, and I owned Zubov." Wil whistles impressed as he continues to listen. "After having so many years to reflect, I now know the flaws in my existence; I was rude, uppity, narcissistic, and more or less a dick; and I only hurt the people that I now know I truly loved in my previous life. Now I only want to have a friendly competition with you, of your choice of course, and if I am defeated then I shall return to the afterlife."

Wil thinks about this proposal for a moment. _Hmm, _he starts in his head, _if I beat him in a game of my choice, then he is basically one less demon that I have to kill. On the other hand, if I lose then he is free to walk and that will allow me to at least save the people of which have the demons trapped inside of them. No I can't lose, I won't._

All of a sudden the demon feels a strong force explode on the right side of his face, he tumbles and rolls a full twenty yards before realizing that he had been hit. He quickly regains his balance and takes his footing. But just as he does another explosion impacts his gut and he is forced high into the air. "How's this," Wil yells up to the demon snidely, "a good old fashioned ass whuppin'."

He then jumps up after the demon and gains on him quickly. _So the boy wants to fight does he, well I'll give him a f-_ the demon is cut from his thoughts as Wil's leg pounds into his chest stopping his ascent and forcing him back to the ground. After a second he impacts the ground, hard. As he attempts to get up, Wil lands on top of him forcing his foot onto Zaebos' spine and enlarging the crater that Zaebos had previously made. "Do you give up yet?" Wil asks snidely.

The demon gets up weakly and turns to Wil saying, "Now, now, attacking an opponent when they aren't ready. Tisk, tisk my boy, and here I thought that you had even an ounce of decency." Wil growls at him angrily. "However, you have proved your point; you wish to fight me and I will accept your challenge."

"Fine."

"But on one condition."

Wil exhales softly saying, "I apologies, I did not intent to subdue our pact of a fair fight; what is it that you ask of me?"

"I wish only for you to fight your hardest, don't hold back."

Wil smiles confidently saying, "As you wish."

He allows the demon to prepare himself for an attack before he moves. Then he stands; waiting, watching, to see what is otherwise unseen. Zaebos lunges forward with a roar; as soon as he comes close enough to Wil to attack, he brings his arm up and slashes quickly as he passes him, then stops to see the damage. He turns only to look in shock as Wil's body dissipates into nothing. "What?" yells the demon angrily.

Wil laughs saying, "You can't honestly think I'm that stupid? I moved like… three seconds before you even came in contact with me. Now," Wil jumps from the tree that he was in, "you can either give up now or face a major ass whuppin'."

The demon just smiles snidely and places his hands together. He chants, "Esir dna dloh ym ymine."

As Wil steps forward to attack he is stopped abruptly by hundreds of vines erupting from the ground and wrapping him in their solid branches. "What the- "

He struggles against the limbs as the demon walks toward him slowly. Once Zaebos comes in close enough to Wil, he proceeds to pounding his face in with a series of punches and kicks while laughing. After a minute, he ceases punching only to say, "Now, what were you saying about 'an old fashioned ass whuppin'."

"This." Wil says weakly

Just then he pulls violently and tears the vines out from the ground along with the trees that they had come from. He smiles wildly as he swings his left hand toward Zaebos, forcing the tree to follow. The demon smiles and leaps over the oncoming tree, only to be forced back to the ground by the force of the other tree hitting him from above. Wil releases the vines and walks over to Zaebos, who is now planted in the ground under the tree. The demon looks up at him angrily saying, "You little bastard!"

Wil leans down saying snidely, "Now, now... what happened to your politeness and courtesy?"

"I'm jammed under a tree you asshole."

"Hmmm. So, do you concede or-"

"Never!" Zaebos interrupts

Wil moves a little closer and sets his hand on the ground. "Well, would you at least tell me who you are?"

"As you wish. My name is Zaebos, but my demon represents Pride. My six brethren, Sloth, Jealousy, Wrath, Lust, Gluttony, Avarice, and I represent the seven sins of man. We were sent here many years ago only to bring order to the world and to teach man how to live a sinless life, thus obtaining the bounty of heaven. Unfortunately, we were so drawn to power that a war broke out between us, killing millions and thus becoming known, from the Japanese, as Jikininki. Most likely because we also committed acts that reflected our sins in a previous life. That is when Khutaal decided to step in and sent us away until the death of the person that was last tormented by us. What I didn't tell you is that the demon can be passed to the next generation by the demon holder having intercourse and sending the seed to another. That is how they, and I, have been trapped for so long. The other six demons are trapped in the bodies of three gay men and three men who never mated."

"So what you are saying is… unless I stop your brethren-"

"The world will be consumed by another war."

Wil looks up toward the sky as it begins to grow black. "I don't have much time."

"By the way," Wil looks down at the demon curiously, "Would you mind not killing me."

Wil inhales through his nostrils pulling his lips slightly inward while together then exhales saying, "No." He pushes his hand into the ground a little forcing a spike of calcite up through the demon's throat. He stands up and looks upon the sunrise nearly covered by the black clouds in the east. He smiles and says, "Only six more."

He walks toward Zarakh's home as it begins to rain. He grabs his second set of cloths and puts them on. Wil then grabs his twin katanas, a few packs of shuriken and kunai, a large sward that he had forged known as Khaibaal, and a silenced automatic shotgun. He then places a large black overcoat on himself, covering the many weapons. Now Wil grabs an umbrella and heads outside, moving to the next town that is closest to his home, Ziesem City.


End file.
